When stay-at-home orders were issued in March 2020, I found myself trying to buy food in a crowded grocery store after shoppers panic-bought most everything off the shelves. I knew of enough substitutes for everyday staples—sour cream for eggs, baking soda for any household cleaning product—to not walk out of the store empty-handed. I felt a sense of pride as I picked up a bottle of tea tree oil face wash, knowing that the essential oil’s antibacterial and antifungal properties could sub for hand sanitizer.
It’s times like these that I’m grateful I spent a year and a half editing articles for a content mill for a mere 80 cents a pop. After telling people that I worked as an editor for a content mill, most asked if it was like a puppy mill. I can’t speak for puppy mills because I have no experience with them, but I can say that the reputation of content mills isn’t much better. There are several content mills in addition to the one that I worked for, but the idea behind them is all the same: It is a website or company that pays freelance writers very low rates for cheap website content, which
